Still from Ajahn Brahm's book, Opening the Door of Your Heart, I found these stories below are hilarious so then I thought it will be great if I can share the laughter to all of you...
Romance
When we are in love, we see only the 'good bricks' in our partner's wall. That is all we want to see, so that is all we do see. We are in denial. Later, when we go to our lawyer to file for divorce, we only see the bad bricks in our partner's wall. We are blind to any redeeming qualities. We don't want to see those, so we don't see them. We go into denial again.
Why is it that romance happens in a darkly lit nightclub, or at an intimate dinner by candlelight, or at night under the moonlight? it is because, in those situations, you can't see all her pimples, or his false teeth. But under candlelight, our imagination is free to fantasise that the girl sitting opposite could be a supermodel, or the man has the looks of a movie star. We love to fantasise, and we fantasise to love. At least we should know what we're doing.
Monks aren't into candlelit romance. They're into turning up the lights on reality. If you want to dream, don't visit a monastery. In my first year as a monk in northeast Thailand, I was travelling in the back of a car with two other Western monks, and with Ajahn Chah, my teacher, sitting in the front passenger seat. Ajahn Chah suddenly turned around and looked at the young American, novice monk sitting next to me, and then said something in Thai. The third Western monk in the car was fluent in Thai and translated for us: 'Ajahn Chah says that you are thinking about your girlfriend back in L.A.'
The jaw of the American novice dropped almost to the floor. Ajahn Chah had been reading his thoughts - accurately. Ajahn Chah smiled, and his next words were translated as, 'Don't worry. We can fix that. Next time you write to her, ask her to send you something personal, something intimately connected to her, which you can bring out whenever you miss her, to remind you of her.'
'Is that allowable for a monk?' asked the novice, surprised.
'Sure' said Ajahn Chah.
Perhaps monks understand romance after all.
What Ajahn Chah said next took many minutes to translate. Our translator had to stop laughing and pull himself together first.
'Ajahn Chah says...' He struggled to get the words out, wiping away tears of mirth. 'Ajahn Chah says you should ask her to send you a bottle of her shit. Then whenever you miss her, you can bring out the bottle and open it!'
Well, it is something personal. And when we express our love for our partner, don't we say we love everything about them? The same advice would be given to a nun missing her boyfriend.
As I said, if you want the fantasy of romance, steer clear of our monastery.
Marriage
Since I became a celibate monk, I have married many women. Part of my job as a Buddhist monk is to perform the religious part of Buddhist marriage ceremonies. According to my tradition of Buddhism, a lay Buddhist is the official marriage celebrant, but many of the couples regard me as the one who married them. So I have married many women and many men as well.
It is said that there are three rings to a marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the suffer-ring!
So trouble is to be expected. When there is trouble, the people I have married often come to talk to me.
...
Then it is said that Ajahn Brahm would tell those married people the following stories...
Commitment
My view of relationships and marriage is this: when the couple are going out, they are merely involved; when they become engaged, they are still only involved, maybe more deeply; when they publicly exchange marriage vows, that is commitment.
The meaning of the marriage ceremony is the commitment. During a ceremony, to drive home the meaning in a way people usually remember for the rest of their lives, I explain that the difference between involvement and commitment is the same as the difference between bacon and eggs.
At this point, the in-laws and friends start to pay attention. They begin to wonder, 'What has bacon and eggs got to do with marriage?' I continue.
'With bacon and eggs, the chicken is only involved, but the pig is committed. Let this be a pig marriage.'
Gratitude
After a wedding ceremony in Singapore a few years ago, the father of the bride took his new son-in-law aside to give him some advice on how to keep the marriage long and happy. 'You probably love my daughter a lot,' he said to the young man.
'Oh yes!' the young man sighed.
'And you probably think that she is the most wonderful person in the world,' the old man continued.
'She's so perfect in each and every way,' the young man cooed.
'That's how it is when you get married,' said the old man. 'But after a few years, you will begin to see the flaws in my daughter. When you do begin to notice her faults, I want you to remember this. If she didn't have those faults to begin with, son-in-law, she would have married someone much better than you!'
So we should always be grateful for the faults in our partner because if they didn't have those faults from the start, they would have been able to marry someone much better than us.
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